Want to raise more money on Facebook? Try this call to action.
Do you know the one call to action that will raise more money for your nonprofit on Facebook than any other?
In a world where only 3-5% of your Facebook followers see anything you post, this one CTA will consistently result in more gifts than any other over the long haul.
What is it?
“JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST”
(or some better, more creative variation that invites people to share their email address with you)
Why?
Facebook is loud and crowded with content competing for attention,
explains Sandy Rees of Get Fully Funded.
If your post about an incredible success story finds its way to a supporter’s feed, it might show up sandwiched between their neighbor’s rant about getting stuck in traffic and their friend’s photos of their new dog. Email is a more intimate way to connect with your audience. When a supporter opens your email, they are, in that moment, interacting ONLY with your organization.
This is an example of what author Paul Zak refers to as immersion.
Email is a WAY more immersive experience than social media.
I’m not naive enough to suggest that anyone is actually fully immersed in any email you send, but the likelihood that they are more immersed reading your email than they are mindlessly scrolling social media is pretty high.
The proof is in the numbers.
One nonprofit I work with has around 30K email subscribers and Facebook followers. Their average email open rate is 40%.
Let’s compare the fundraising potential between email and Facebook.
EMAIL:
If 40% of the 30,000 people who receive a fundraising email open it, it will be seen by 12,000 people.
FACEBOOK :
If a post is shown to 3-5% of their 30,000 followers, it will be seen by 900 to 1500 people.
We could probably stop right here by simply asking, “Would you rather have 1500 people see your content or 12,000?”
But I’m not done …
Assuming .5% of the people who see a post or email make an average gift of $100, let’s compare the fundraising potential:
- Email: .5% of 12,000 is 120 people x $100 = $6,000
- Facebook: .5% of 1,500 is 8 people (I rounded up from 7.5) x $100 = $750
Am I saying you should abandon Facebook?
Absolutely not.
It’s a great place to build an audience and spread ideas.
However, in a world where the promise of social media fundraising continues to outpace the results, it is not the best place to raise money.
If you’ve been prioritizing Facebook as a fundraising platform, it might be time to rethink your strategy.
As you work to grow your Facebook presence over time, can you also create an intentional strategy to convert Facebook followers into email subscribers?
Not every Facebook post needs a call to action, but you’ll raise a lot more money over the long haul by focusing those posts where a CTA does make sense on inviting people to share their email address with you.
A thriving email list is the heartbeat of genuine connection with your community.
It’s the backstage pass and direct line to those who truly care.
While the chatter of social media may echo, the intentional conversations happening in the inbox are the ones that resonate.
The inbox is where the magic happens, where stories find an audience, where real change begins, where you foster a community that cares deeply … one email at a time.
You will never regret using social media to grow your email list.
Want to learn how?
Check out the post from Get Fully Funded that inspired this week’s edition of Fundraising Friday for a list of great tips.
